BASIC CONCEPTS Unit 1: Language and mea: 1.1 Communicative acts 1.2 The content of communication 1.3 Theee ways of interpreting clause structure 1.3.1 The clause os representing situstions:transitviy structures 1.3.2 The clause as interaction: mood structures 1.3.3 The clause os message: thematic structures 1.3.4 Combining the three ypes of structure 1.3.5 Acie vs passive voice Unit Linguistic forms and syntactic functions 2.1. Syntactic categories and relationships 2.2. Tesing for consitvents 2.3 Grammatical units and rank of units 2.4 Closses of units 2.4.1. Closses of clauses 2.4.2 Clsses of groups 24.3 Closes of words 2.4'4 Closes of morphemes 2.5. The concept of unit structure 2.5.1 Syntactic elements of clouses 2.5.2 Syntactic elements of groups 2.5.3 Componence, realisation and function Unit Negation and expansion 3.1 Negotive and interrogative cause structures 3.1.1 The finite operator 3.2 Clausal negation 3.2.1. Interrogative clauses 3. Nonegation vs notnegation + any 3.4. Any and olher nonasserive words CHAPTER @Noom Ae & 21 21 21 22 22 23 23LANGUAGE AND MEANING UNIT 1 ‘A functional grammar aims to match forms to function and meaning in context. This Unit introduces three strands of meaning that form the basis of a functional interpreta- tion of grammar: the representational, the interpersonal and the textual. Each of these strands is encoded in the clause (or simple sentence) as a type of structure. The three structures are mapped onto one another, illustrating how the three types of meaning combine in one linguistic expression. 1.1 COMMUNICATIVE ACTS. Let us start from the basic concept that language is for communication. Here is part of a recorded conversation taken from a sociological project of the University of Bristol The speakers are Janice, a girl who runs a youth club and disco in an English town, and Chris, one of the boys in the club, who is 19 and works in a shop. In the dialogue, ‘we can distinguish various types of communicative act, or speech act, by which people communicate with each other: making statements, asking questions, giving directives with the aim of getting the hearer to carry out some action, making an offer or promise, thanking or expressing an exclamation, Offer J: Ifyou like, (ll come into your shop tomorrow and get some more model aeroplane kits. Reminder C: O.K Don't forget to bring the bill with you this time, Promise J: Lwon't. Question Do you enjoy working there? Statements _C: It's allright, I suppose. Gets a bit boring. It do for a while. Statement Iwould have thought you were good at selling things. Statement C: I don't know what to do really. I've had other jobs. My Dad keeps on at me to go into his business. He keeps offering me better wages, Exclamation _but the last thing to do is to work for him! Question J: Why? Echo question C: Why? You don’t know my old man! I Exclamations wouldn't work for him! He always Statement wanted me to, but we don't get on,LINGUISTIC FORMS AND UNIT 2 SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS 2.1 SYNTACTIC CATEGORIES AND RELATIONSHIPS Inthis Unit we shall outline the basic syntactic concepts on which our structural analysis is based. These include the structural units which can be arranged by rank, the classes into which these units can be divided, and the elements of which they are composed, We shall also consider the ways units of one rank are related to those above or below them, 2.2 TESTING FOR CONSTITUENTS Before attempting to see how a stretch of language can be broken down into units, it is useful to be able to reinforce our intuitions as to where boundaries lie. This can be done by applying certain tests in order to identify whether a particular sequence of ‘words is functioning as a constituent of a higher unit or not. For instance, the following sequence, which constitutes a grammatical clause or simple sentence, is ambiguous: ‘Muriel saw the man in the service station ‘Two interpretations are possible, according to how the units that make up the clause are grouped into constituents, expressed graphically as follows: 1. || Muriel | saw | the man in the service station | 2 || Muriel | saw | the man || in the service station | In version 1, the prepositional phrase inthe sence station forms part ofthe constituent whose head. word is man (the man inthe service sation) and tels us something about the ‘man; whereas in version 2 the same prepositional phrase functions separately as a constituent of the clause and tells us where Muriel saw the man, Evidence for this analysis can be sought by such operations as (a) coordination, (b) wh-questions, (c) clefting, (d) passivisation and (e) fronting. Tests (b) to (e) involve ‘moving the stretch of language around and observing its syntactic behaviour. TestingNEGATION AND EXPANSION UNIT 3 3.1 NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE CLAUSE STRUCTURES Negating and questioning are basic human needs, which are encoded grammatically by negation and by the interrogative, respectively. English is unlike many other languages in using a finite operator to form negative and interrogative clause structures. ‘The verb’s corresponding negative forms normally have n't added to the positive forms. The following are irregular: can’t (from cannot), shan't (from shall not), won't (from, will not). May not is not usually abbreviated to mayn't. When n’ follows a consonant ~as in didn’, wouldn't -it is pronounced as a separate syllable. The inflectional n't forms are used in spoken English and in informal written styles that imitate speech, such as fictional dialogue. The full form not is used in formal written styles and for ‘emphasis as in The play was not a succes, rather than The play wasn’t @ succes. 3.1.1. The finite operator ‘The operator is a verb, of one of the following types: primary, modal or do, as, explained below. primary. positive: am, is, are, was, were, have, has, had negative: am not (aren't in negative-interrogative), isn’t, aren't, ‘wasn't, weren't, haven't, hasn't, hadn't modal: positive: can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, ought negative: can't, couldn’, won't, wouldn't, shan’, shouldn't, may not, rmightn't, oughtn’t the ‘do’ operator: positive: does, do, did negative; doesnt, don', didn't Worthy of mention here are the lexical auxiliaries based on the primary verbs be (be about to, be sure to, be going to, etc.) and have (have fo, have got to), which are discussed in 37.3. The primary verb functions as a normal operator in these combinations. Less commonly in use are the semi-modals dare and need, which as modals are used in negative and interrogative clauses, and admit the abbreviated forms daren’t and needn't, respectively. (Dare you tell her? I daren’t tell her. How dare you speak to me like that? Need I go? You needn't go).28 ENGLISH GRAMMAR clause at A: (Afier they had signed the contrac| they went off to celebrate. group in group: [Tom] sisters] husband's] mother the box [on top of the cupboard [in my bedroom] EXERCISES ON CHAPTER 1 Basic concepts Unit 1 1 tor each of the following clauses say whether a participant or a circumstance has been chosen as Theme (the first constivent in the clause) (1) Main Steet is usually crowded on late shopping nights. (2}_ The girls armed with hockeystcks chased the burglar (3). Quite by accident | come across a very rare postage stamp. (4) Away in the distnce you ean see Mount Kilimanjaro. (5} What lam going to tell you must not be repeated. 2 tin each of he following clauses say whether the Subject, the Direct Object or the Adjunct has been chosen as Theme: (1). Abou fly or sixly thousand yeors ago, there lived on earth a creature similar to man. (2). Sells and bones ofthis extine! species of man were found at Neanderthal (3) By 40,000 years ago new migrants had reached Europe, supposedly from Afric. (4) What species would be the definitively human we can only guess (5} In Asio or Alrica there may be sill undiscovered deposis of earlier and richer humen Unit 2 3. tlook atthe clauses below and apply the tests outlined in Unit 2.2 fo answer the questions following them: (1) The litle boy in the red jersey is making a sand caste on the beach, (o} isthe litle boy a consivet ofthe clause? (b). son the beach o constituent? (c)_ Iso the red jersey @ consiven® (d)_bscoste a conslituent? (2} Tom took the road tothe factory by mistake (o)_ Isthe road a constvent® (b]_ Is tothe factory a consiven® (q)_Isby misioke a constituent? (6) took a constituent? 4 tidentify each ofthe uncontextulised clauses listed below os (o] independent; (b) depend- en! finite; (e) dependent nonfnite; (4) abbreviated; (e) verbless. Puncuation and capitals have been omitted